Are there policy markets in Australia, and if so, how do they operate? This is the core question for this dissertation. Beginning with a focus on this simple formulation of the problem, the thesis explores the idea of policy markets, breaking it down into its constituent parts��policy� and �markets��and develops four different ways in which policy markets (i.e. markets for policy analysis, research and advice) might be modeled: 1. the dimensions of knowledge, values and competition in policy development systems and processes; 2. a hierarchy of policy markets according to strategic, programmatic and operational concerns; 3. policy markets in the context of cyclical process models of policy-making, especially the variant posited by Bridgman and Davis (1998); and 4. a typology of policy markets ranging from �pseudo� forms through to a form of full (or �pure�) policy market. Against the background of this theory-building, the empirical evidence�which was gathered through a combination of documentary investigation and some 77 interviews with senior public servants, consultants and ministers�is addressed through three interrelated approaches: an analysis of the (relatively limited) government-wide data; a comparison of this material with experience in New Zealand; and a set of three extended case studies. The three case studies address the idea and experience of policy markets from the point of view of: � the supplier�in this case, the economic forecasting and analysis firm, Access Economics; � ministers-as-buyers�through a study of the Coalition Government�s 1998 efforts to reform the waterfront; and � the bureaucracy as implementers of an extensive program of outsourcing�through a detailed examination of the outsourcing of corporate services (especially human resource management) by the Department of Finance and Administration. Several conclusions are drawn as to the character, extent and theoretical and practical significance of policy markets in Australia. While various elements of actual markets (e.g. contracts, price and service competition, multiple sources of supply, etc.) can be detected in the Australian approach to policy-making, policy markets are not as prevalent or as consistent as the rhetoric might suggest. In particular, while the language of the market is a common feature throughout the Australian policy-making system, it tends to mask a complex, �mixed economy�, whereby there is a continued preference for many of the mechanisms of bureaucratic ways of organising for policy analysis, combined with a growing challenge from various forms of networks, which are sometimes �dressed� as markets but retain the essential elements of policy (or, perhaps more particularly, political) networks. Nevertheless, the growing use of the language and some of the forms of the market in Australia�s policy-making system suggests that practitioners and researchers need to take this form into account when considering ways of organising (in the case of practitioners) or ways of studying (for researchers) policy development in Australia.

To date little empirical research has been undertaken into relationship atmosphere, yet the literature leads one to the conclusion that this is a key or central factor in developing the relationship between firms and in shaping the characteristics of that relationship over time.Given that the dimensions of atmosphere are only observable by the individual from a subjective standpoint, and that therefore emotion and subjective perception will inevitably intercede, this omission is startling to say the least.The aim of this study is to respond to this research gap and explore the nature and importance of perceptions of relationship atmosphere in business markets.In order for this exploration to be effective, a research methodology was designed to gather data, and three research questions were identified as having implications for the study of relationship atmosphere. The findings as reported in this thesis present a new view of relationship atmosphere and its role in inter-firm relationships. In view of the findings, a submariner analogy is presented to represent accordant and discordant perceptions of atmosphere in individual relationships. Additionally a revised interaction model is proposed to represent the new view of relationship atmosphere as a product of the perception of the individual parties to the relationship / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>Information technology (IT) has developed and spread and the internet is now available in nearly every corner of the world all the time. It is adequate to say that we are entering an information economy. E-business is an important business tool, which is reflected by the emerging presence of the internet. Furthermore, the Internetworld says that in accordance with a development plan from the European Union it should be possible to carry out all government business electronically in 2010. But, already in January 2008, the state authorities shall be able to send and receive e-invoices. The project "E-service for safe mining projects" is one of the projects within the government owned Vinnova programme Innovative development of cross-boundary public e-services. This thesis is written on assignment for that project, taking on the role of a consultant.</p><p>Companies can through the internet easily find business over boarders, geographical or other, and there is money to be earned in new markets. To do this companies have a need to know their potential customers, their needs and wants. The purposes of this thesis are to explore the perceived needs for the "E-service of safe mining projects" and the benefits it could bring to its potential customers. By considering the customers potential needs with the aid of a theoretical lens this thesis also aims to make suggestions to the company of what to consider in the development process of this e-service and discuss how their desires could be met by the e-service.</p><p>The theoretical chapter begins with explaining the concepts of services and e-services. Cravens and Piercy's model for determining product-markets and Zeithaml's et al gap model are used. The study is done using semi-structured interviews of four different interest groups for the e-service. There were three researchers conducting the interviews together.</p><p>The conclusions of the study are that to satisfy the customers is not very easily done. Customers of today often have high expectations of the quality of the service and they want the service provider to know their needs and wants. What could be helpful for this e-service is that because it is semi-public service the potential customers may consider it a public service instead of a private service and thus the expectations will be lowered. The generic need is the "need to get the right information" and there are a number of specific perceived needs adherent to the potential customers. Also recommendations are given to the project.</p>

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> To investigate how automation companies within Mälardalen region are aware of the value of brand building in a business-to-business context. The primary interest in this chapter concerns the complexity of business-to-business buyer behaviour and the perceived value of brand related attributes from industrial suppliers perspective.</p><p><strong>Design/Methodology/Approach:</strong> Primary research material was gathered through a structured data collection in the form of direct-questioner consisting of pre-arranged fixed alternative questions. 257 mailings were distributed to top level management with marketing responsibility.</p><p><strong>Findings:</strong> The management of automation companies perceives both product-related and non-product related brand attributes important to communicate in business relations with their customers, highlighting personal capability and trust as key in brand communication.</p> / Automation Region

<p>This thesis is conducted for Monitor Industriutveckling AB. The company grows fast and is ready to consider the expansion of its business abroad. The details how to pro-ceed with the expansion are yet to be set. The purpose of this work is to examine dif-ferent options to aid the company management select the most meaningful way to proceed.</p><p>The analytical framework used consists of three well-known business theories. There are the New Capabilities analysis, the PEST analysis and finally the five forces model. Robert Grant’s New Capabilities analysis shows that especially the strategic alliances capability could be an interesting new capability and a way to grow for Monitor. The PEST-analysis proves that Finland can offer good opportunities for Monitor’s type of company because the country itself is very IT-oriented and political and economical as well as social forces can support Monitor’s business. Finland can also be a gateway to eastern-European countries. Finally we have Michael Porter’s five forces model. Monitor has lots of potential customers in Finland. There is a substantial amount of small and medium-sized companies in the manufacturing industry. Taxes and legisla-tion will not be a problem when entering Finland, as they are similar compared to Sweden. There are no big cultural differences between Finland and Sweden. These countries even share the same language, Swedish, which is a quite unique advantage.</p><p>I have collected the empirical data of this thesis mostly by personal interviews. Here I show that Monitor’s current customers in Finland would prefer to see their supplier present in the same country. They would also appreciate Finnish-speaking personnel and support. I have also interviewed business specialists. According to them, Monitor would easily adapt to the Finnish business culture and make its product successful. The right attitude in Finnish business environment would just boost Monitor’s suc-cess. The strength of the Monitor product is its user-friendliness. The weakness and at the same time its opportunity is that the company grows very fast. When a company grows it must be ready to make big decisions and choose where to go and at the same time be there to support each and every present customer.</p><p>The conclusion is that Monitor has good possibilities to become a successful company in Finland. From a marketing point of view, Monitor should invest in marketing ac-tions and make itself known and seen among its target group. The recommended way to enter Finland would be to find a good distributor for Monitor’s product. This entry method would be the one with the smallest risk and it is also probably the quickest way to proceed. I recommend Monitor to choose a distributor that can complete its product-palette with Monitor.</p>

<p>This study examines the economic impacts of three large-scale terrorist attacks on the Nordic capital markets. Past research has shown evidence of the increasing resilience of the US capital markets towards terrorist attacks. Hereby the Nordic regions capital markets were studied and compared with the US's capital markets, in an intention to find evidence whether or not the same development can be observed in the Nordic countries. The results implied that the Nordic markets did not absorb the shocks as well as the US markets. The analysis was taken into an industry level on the Swedish stock market to get a deeper insight of the impacts of such events. The results indicated the Energy sectors good ability to absorb terrorist attacks in terms of negative abnormal returns and time of recovery. The Financing sector seemed to be the most sensitive sector, since its performance was the weakest in terms of market recovery.</p>

<p>Denna uppsats undersöker huruvida ett antal aktiemarknader på Balkan tillfredställer den svaga formen av marknadseffektivitet under perioden 2003-2007. Svag marknadseffektivitet innebär att priset på en finansiell tillgång reflekterar all historisk prisinformation. Om en marknad är svagt effektiv leder analys av historisk kursinformation inte till överavkastning eftersom all historisk information redan är diskonterad av marknaden. För att pröva den svaga formen av effektivitet för Kroatien, Makedonien, Montenegro, Serbien och Slovenien genomförs olika statistiska tester såsom autokorrelationstest, runs test, varianskvottest och regressionsanalys.</p><p>Samtliga tester i studien genomförs på dagsavkastningar. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att samtliga avkastningsserier lider av positiv autokorrelation, vilket innebär att den historiska avkastningen i viss mån kan användas för att predicera den framtida avkastningen. Detta behöver dock inte betyda avvikelse från den effektiva marknadsmodellen då den ekonomiska signifikansen är relativt låg med en genomsnittlig förklarningsgrad under fem procent.</p>

The Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP), piloted in Oregon in 2001, provided $100 worth of vouchers (aka coupons) to low-income seniors to buy fresh local produce from farmers at farmers' markets and roadside stands. Presented in a political ecology framework, this research integrated the perspectives of beneficiaries and their communities into a program evaluation. Convenience interviews of participants at farmers' markets around Oregon revealed significant economic, social and nutritional benefits resulting from the program. Findings also revealed areas of contention for some seniors: produce prices, transportation barriers, and lack of awareness of local agriculture. Reimbursement delays, policing of coupon-users and lack of information caused frustrations for farmers. Generally, farmers were appreciative of seniors as customers, and of the program for enabling farmers and their market to perform a social good; strengthening the community-building role of the farmers' market, providing a social activity for seniors and their support network, creating new relationships between the community and farmers, and enabling seniors to participate in the market experience and farmers to provide fresh produce that enhanced seniors' nutritional intake. Overall, SFMNP achieved its objectives in supporting low-income seniors, farmers and farm-direct marketing, and was an appealing program for seniors and farmers. / Graduation date: 2004

<p>This paper uses a new measure of volatility based on extreme day return occurrences and examines the relative prevailing volatility among worldwide stock markets during 1997-2009. Using several global stock market indexes of countries categorized as an emerging and developed capital markets are utilized. Additionally this study investigates well known anomalies namely Monday effect and January effect. Further using correlation analysis of co movement and extent of integration highlights the opportunities for international diversification among those markets. Evidences during this time period suggest volatility is not the only phenomena of emerging capital markets. Emerging markets offer opportunities of higher returns during volatility. Cross correlation analysis depicts markets have become more integrated during this time frame; still opportunities for higher returns prevail through global portfolio diversification.</p>

The paper analyzes the impact of financial globalization on corporate governance systems. While shareholder systems are relatively unaffected by globalization pressures, the burden of adjustment rests primarily on stakeholder systems, owing to their dominant non-market forms of coordination. Convergence theory therefore expects a transformation of stakeholder systems towards shareholder systems, whereas the ‘hybridization thesis’ argues for a combination of elements from shareholder and stakeholder systems as a result of globalization. The ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ approach expects stability in corporate governance systems and a continuation of differences between them.